Trump Asked Comey to Drop Investigation

Wednesday, May 17, 2017

Vol. 6, No.128

Bombshell of the Day: It’s impossible to keep up. The NY Times broke a story saying President Trump asked former FBI Director James Comey to drop the investigation of Russian influence on the election and possible Trump campaign collusion.

The combination of asking Comey to drop the investigation, then firing him, could be interpreted as obstruction of justice.

Later yesterday, House Oversight chair Jason Chaffetz, demanded all records of FBI communications with Trump.

The Times reports that the day after National Security Adviser Michael Flynn was fired, Trump said to Comey about the Russia investigation, “I hope you can let this go.” The Times says Comey documented the conversation in a memo immediately after and cites two sources who read it. The paper reports that Comey shared the memo with other FBI employees.

According to the Times reporting, Trump said to Comey, “I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go.”

A White House statement said, “The president has never asked Mr. Comey or anyone else to end any investigation, including any investigation involving General Flynn.”

Blown Source: Several news outlets report that the classified information President Trump gave to two Russian officials in the Oval Office last week came from Israel. The Israelis would not confirm or deny the report.

The White House spent the day playing down the seriousness of what Trump did, only about 12 hours after denying that he did it.

The story blew circuits in the White House press offices Monday night.

Rumorville: It’s standard journalist practice not to repeat rumors, but sometimes you have to deal with them. The big one floated about President Trump is that he’s been indicted, a story that has not been picked up by the mainstream press.

Claude Taylor and Louise Mensch report on the Patribotics blog that, “Separate sources with links to the intelligence and justice communities have stated that a sealed indictment has been granted against Donald Trump.”

Mensch has been dismissed at times as a conspiracy theorist, but both she and Taylor have gotten some things right. An indictment against Trump this early in his presidency isn’t likely to have anything to do with his actions in office. It might involve his business dealings, possibly with foreigners, and that might mean Russia.

Bill Palmer picked up the story in the Palmer Report, writing that, “The sealed indictment against Donald Trump was issued by the Eastern District Court of Virginia, which is the same court that former FBI Director James Comey recently confirmed is working with the FBI on the Trump-Russia investigation. And he’s adding that sealed indictments have also been issued against Paul Manafort, Michael Flynn, and other unnamed individuals.”

Palmer writes, “The indictment against Trump is aimed at making the extent of his crimes so clear to the public that Congress will feel compelled to begin the impeachment process.” That is, of course, if there really is an indictment.

And This: Monday night an artist projected the words “Pay Trump Bribes Here” on the front of the Trump International Hotel in Washington.

Pacific Trash Bin: Remote Henderson Island, an unoccupied atoll in the South Pacific, has become a catch basin for plastic trash floating in the ocean. Researchers estimate that the island’s beaches are littered with 38 million pieces of garbage, most of it plastic. There’s so much plastic trash in the Pacific that it’s breaking down into the food chain and becoming multi-colored plastic sand on the beaches.

Just Duckie: North Carolina Republican Congressman Mark Walker, a pro-life politician, isn’t as sentimental about ducks. After the Architect of the Capitol commissioned two ramps to allow ducklings to get in and out of the Capitol reflecting pool, Walker tweeted a hard-hearted, “If it looks like a duck and walks like a duck, it must be government waste.” Well, for one thing, he was talking about a ramp, not a duck, but you get the idea. Walker immediately discovered that there is a large pro-duck segment of voters with Twitter accounts accusing him of being a quack politician.

Friday, February 26, 2016

Thursday, January 7, 2016

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Friday, June 19, 2015

Thursday, May 14, 2015

It's Been Said

"The greatest absurdity of our time is You Know Whom, which goes without saying but I will anyway. What his election showed is that a considerable number of people, in order to demonstrate their frustration with the world as it is, are willing to drive their car, with their children in the back seat, over a cliff, smash the radiator, bust an axle and walk away feeling good about themselves. No other president in modern times has been held in contempt by a preponderance of people from the moment he said, 'So help me, God.'"

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